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| Catherine Wells-Burr death: Three guilty of murder | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A factory worker and his former partner have been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend in order to claim her six-figure life insurance policy. | A factory worker and his former partner have been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend in order to claim her six-figure life insurance policy. |
| Rafal Nowak, 31, smothered Catherine Wells-Burr, 23, as she slept at their home in Chard, Somerset, in September. | Rafal Nowak, 31, smothered Catherine Wells-Burr, 23, as she slept at their home in Chard, Somerset, in September. |
| His ex-girlfriend Anna Lagwinowicz, 32, and her uncle Tadevsz Dmytryszyn, 38, then disposed of the body in Ms Wells-Burr's car before setting it on fire. | His ex-girlfriend Anna Lagwinowicz, 32, and her uncle Tadevsz Dmytryszyn, 38, then disposed of the body in Ms Wells-Burr's car before setting it on fire. |
| A jury at Bristol Crown Court also found Dmytryszyn guilty of murder. | A jury at Bristol Crown Court also found Dmytryszyn guilty of murder. |
| Ms Wells-Burr's family wept, gasped and loudly exclaimed "yes" as the guilty verdicts were returned. | Ms Wells-Burr's family wept, gasped and loudly exclaimed "yes" as the guilty verdicts were returned. |
| Nowak was convicted unanimously by the jury, while Lagwinowicz and Dmytryszyn were found guilty by majority verdicts. | Nowak was convicted unanimously by the jury, while Lagwinowicz and Dmytryszyn were found guilty by majority verdicts. |
| The jury took more than 12 hours and 30 minutes to return their verdicts. They will be sentenced on Monday. | |
| Explicit dating websites | Explicit dating websites |
| The court heard the murder was motivated by money and jealousy and was the result of months of secret meetings and phone calls between Nowak and Lagwinowicz. | The court heard the murder was motivated by money and jealousy and was the result of months of secret meetings and phone calls between Nowak and Lagwinowicz. |
| Nowak, who also had a wife and child in Poland, had rekindled his relationship with his ex-girlfriend and was sleeping with her when he bought a home on Willow Way, in Chard, with Miss Wells-Burr. | Nowak, who also had a wife and child in Poland, had rekindled his relationship with his ex-girlfriend and was sleeping with her when he bought a home on Willow Way, in Chard, with Miss Wells-Burr. |
| Miss Wells-Burr and Nowak, who appeared to be in a loving relationship, obtained life insurance worth £123,000 for both parties - naming each other as the sole benefactor. | Miss Wells-Burr and Nowak, who appeared to be in a loving relationship, obtained life insurance worth £123,000 for both parties - naming each other as the sole benefactor. |
| But in the following months Nowak and Lagwinowicz created an elaborate trail of false phone calls and texts - which were meant to show Miss Wells-Burr had gone to see a secret lover and had met her death at his hands. | But in the following months Nowak and Lagwinowicz created an elaborate trail of false phone calls and texts - which were meant to show Miss Wells-Burr had gone to see a secret lover and had met her death at his hands. |
| Lagwinowicz also signed up to explicit dating websites pretending to be Miss Wells-Burr and created profiles on social media of fictional male admirers of the university graduate. | Lagwinowicz also signed up to explicit dating websites pretending to be Miss Wells-Burr and created profiles on social media of fictional male admirers of the university graduate. |
| After a failed attempt on her life two days earlier, Nowak used a pillow from the couple's bed to smother Miss Wells-Burr in the early hours of 12 September. | After a failed attempt on her life two days earlier, Nowak used a pillow from the couple's bed to smother Miss Wells-Burr in the early hours of 12 September. |
| Her body was discovered by fire crews in her Ford Focus in a field in Ashill, Somerset later that morning. | Her body was discovered by fire crews in her Ford Focus in a field in Ashill, Somerset later that morning. |
| 'Evil people' | |
| Ms Wells Burr's mother Jayne said outside court: "The hatred shown to her has truly shocked us and especially the hatred shown by Rafal Nowak who was meant to have loved her, and we treated him like a son and a family member. | |
| "Anna Lagwinowicz is devious, manipulative, calculating by her actions. Creating sickening false profiles of Catherine demonstrated this. | |
| "These evil people have made us question our judgement of character and trust in people. We trust no-one." | |
| Det Insp Simon Crisp, from Avon and Somerset Police, said: "This was a wicked crime committed against a bright and innocent young woman who had her whole life ahead of her. | |
| "Nowak, Lagwinowocz and Dmytryszyn took both Catherine's and her family's future away from them on the night they carried out this calculated killing. | |
| "They then tried to cover their tracks and mislead us in a bid to get away with what they had done. | |
| "Murder is a terrible crime but what makes this worse is the intricate planning that took place while Nowak pretended to care about Catherine - playing the doting boyfriend while plotting to take her life for a few thousand pounds. | |
| "Their plan unravelled despite their best attempts to mislead us and today they have been found guilty of Catherine's murder." |